Think of the Children
by greysfan27
Summary: Eventual Gail x Holly. Gail goes to pick up Leo from school one day and meets an adorable little girl and her mom, the new Forensic Pathologist of 15 Division.
1. Chapter 1

**This story just kept popping into my head, so I went with it. I'll just leave this here…**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

"Excuse me?" Was all Gail heard as she felt a slight tug on her combat pants.

The blonde looked down to find two, very curious brown eyes looking up at her from under brown bangs.

"Hi, my name is Gail. What's yours?" The blonde asked as she knelt down to the little girl's eye level.

"Charlotte." She answered simply with a small smile as she reached out to touch the 'Peck' on Gail's uniform.

"Charlotte? That's a very pretty name."

"I thought you said your name was Gail?" She asked, still running her small fingers over Gail's last name.

"It is. Peck is my last name." The blonde explained gently, looking around the schoolyard for Leo.

School had just finished for the day and Gail was there to pick up Leo on her lunch break and bring him back to hang out at 15 for a few hours until Traci got off work.

"Stewart, that's my last name."

"Really? You have a first name for a last name? That's pretty cool!" The blonde said, now sitting down on the ground in front of Charlotte.

"You're silly, Gail." The little brown-haired girl said with a giggle as she sat cross-legged in front of Gail.

"Did you need something from me, Charlotte? Or you just wanted to say hi?" Gail asked, remembering that the little girl with the ponytail approached her.

"Mommy always says to never talk to strangers, unless it's a police officer or a firefighter. And I saw that you were wearing a police uniform. I just wanted to talk to someone new though."

"Well your mommy is really smart." Gail said with a nod.

"Well, duh, she's a doctor." The little girl said matter-of-factly, causing Gail to laugh at the little girl's frankness.

"You know, kid, you're alright." The blonde said with a grin as Charlotte smiled back.

"So are you, Gail." She said, shrugging at Gail adorably.

"So what grade are you in, Charlotte?"

"I'm in kindergarten. I just turned 5 years old two weeks ago!" She said happily, grinning, showing off a missing tooth.

"That's awesome! Did you have a cool birthday party?"

"Yeah, it was lots of fun! Me and my mommy moved here a few days ago, so I just started this school on Monday."

"Oh yeah? How do you like it so far?"

"It's fine, I guess. Mommy got a new job, so we moved. And I asked if we could bring my best friend Rosie with us, but she said no." The little girl rambled on, sighing heavily, causing Gail to stifle her grin as best she could.

"That's nice that your mommy got a new job, but that's a bummer that Rosie couldn't come with you, huh?"

"Yeah. She said I'd meet a new Rosie, but I haven't met anyone named Rosie yet." Charlotte said as Gail just looked at her amusedly.

"I think your mommy meant you'd meet someone who was like Rosie. Like a new best friend."

"Ohhh." The little girl said, looking slightly alarmed. "That makes sense."

"You know, you're really well spoken for a 5 year old." The blonde said, squinting her eyes at the little girl slightly.

"Keep up, Gail, my mom's a doctor!" The little girl replied, as if that answered everything.

"Right, I'm sorry, Charlotte!"

* * *

"Charlotte, there you are! Honey, I hope you're not bothering this nice officer."

"Mommy! Of course not, you said I could talk to police officers." The little girl said as her mom picked her up and squeezed her, allowing Gail time to stand up.

"I meant like if you had a problem, sweetie." Charlotte's mom said, semi-mumbling it as Gail smiled happily.

"It's no problem, ma'am. Charlotte and I had a nice chat for a few minutes."

"Yeah, we did! Mommy, this is my new friend, Gail. She's a police officer!" Charlotte said excitedly as her mom smiled.

"Hi Officer, it's nice to meet you. I'm Holly Stewart." The tall, gorgeous woman said, sticking her hand out to shake Gail's.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Gail Peck."

"Mommy, Gail thinks it's cool that we have a first name for a last name."

"I guess it is pretty cool, munchkin. I hope you didn't bother Officer Peck too much." Holly said, throwing Gail apologetic eyes.

"I didn't. She looked bored earlier, so I started talking to her." Charlotte said honestly as Gail grinned.

"I was very bored before you started talking to me, so thank you." Gail said sincerely as she high-5ed Charlotte.

Holly was about to say something when Leo ran up happily.

"Hey, bud! How are you?" Gail asked Leo happily, giving him a hug.

"I'm good! We did some cool science experiments today!" He said happily before he turned to smile at Holly and Charlotte.

"Leo, this is Charlotte and Miss Stewart. Guys, this is Leo." Gail introduced them all, smiling as Leo went and shook their hands.

"Nice to meet you, Leo." Holly said with a smile as Leo nodded happily.

"I'm sorry, but we have to run. I have to get back to work. You ready, bud?" Gail asked Leo, who nodded happily.

"It was nice to meet you, thank you for keeping my daughter occupied." Holly said with a sweet smile.

"Of course, you've got a good one there." Gail said before she started to walk away.

"Did you bring a cop car today?" Leo asked excitedly as they walked away, causing Holly to chuckle lightly.

* * *

"No, I'm telling you, Traci. This woman was so gorgeous. Like beyond gorgeous. Like a model, or a goddess or something."

"Wow, Peck, looks like you're in deep already." Traci said with a smirk as Gail glared at her.

"And her daughter is the cutest, sassiest thing ever." Gail added with a smile.

"I'm really surprised that you're even thinking about this." Traci said seriously.

"Why?"

"Because she has a kid, Gail."

"I'd deal with kids over adults any day." The blonde shrugged slowly.

"Yeah, but do you like them enough to date someone with one? That means weird, shortened date times, probably no sleepovers, potential dates with a kid involved." Traci started listing things off.

"I honestly don't know if it would bother me that much, Trace. Charlotte and Holly both seemed really cool." The blonde reasoned as the detective looked impressed.

"Well then I say go for it. See if this Holly person is gay." Traci said, giving her approval.

"What am I supposed to do? Just look up where they live and go ask her if she likes the ladies?" Gail asked as she swiveled around in one of the chairs in the detective's offices, smiling as she watched Leo getting something from the vending machine.

"Let's not hit stalker potential. Why not pick Leo up again in a few days and maybe you'll see Charlotte again and Holly will be picking her up."

"We'll see."

* * *

The next day, Gail was at a crime scene in the woods, thinking about Holly and Charlotte, and not paying super close attention to the barrier when someone passed her quickly.

"Hey, Lunchbox, you're not allowed down there!" Gail shouted after a woman who just appeared out of nowhere.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." The woman said, not looking back.

"I said you're not allowed down there." Gail said loudly, causing the woman to stop and turn around.

"Me? Actually I am." The brunette offered with a lop-sided grin.

"Well, well. If it isn't Holly Stewart traipsing through my crime scene." Gail said as they both took a few steps in towards each other.

"Gail Peck, fancy running into you here." Holly said with a smirk, eyes sparkling.

"I thought Charlotte said you were a doctor?" Gail asked with slightly furrowed brows.

"I am. I'm the new forensic pathologist for 15 division." She said with a smile as Gail nodded.

"Congratulations, then, Dr. Stewart." Gail said with a smirk.

"You know, my daughter is quite taken with you. She would not stop talking about you yesterday." Holly said with a laugh.

"Well that's generally the effect I have on people." She answered with a shrug as Holly smirked and shook her head.

"Why do I not completely believe that?"

"I don't know, Dr. Stewart, you tell me." Gail said, stepping in even closer to Holly.

"You know, your son is very cute." Holly said, wanting to change the subject.

"Thanks, but he's not mine. He's my semi-nephew." She said, trying to find a good way to describe him.

"Semi-nephew?" Holly asked with a chuckle.

"His mom is my best friend, who just so happens to be dating my brother."

"Ahh, gotcha. Well, I've got to go get started on collecting stuff. Am I still not allowed to be here?" She asked with her typical lop-sided grin.

"I'll allow it, but how was I supposed to know that you were the forensic pathologist?" Gail asked with an unimpressed look.

"I thought it was obvious." Holly said, holding up her evidence kit.

"Only to nerds." The blonde said before she turned around and walked back up to the barrier, leaving Holly shaking her head with a smile.

* * *

After hours spent in the morgue with Holly, Gail was still wondering how to approach the subject of dating.

"Holly, I'm like a cat. I'm really good at climbing trees but the minute I get up there, I don't…I have no idea what to do. I wanna get down, but I don't know how to do that, so I create an emergency situation to get out of it."

"Of the tree?" The brunette asked adorably confused.

"Of relationships." Gail answered truthfully.

"Yeah, I used to be like that that, but it turns out I didn't like men."

"I don't think I like men, either."

"I mean, I'm a lesbian." Holly said with a smirk.

"Oh, I mean I just hate people." Gail said, starting to walk out of the lab. "Except for you and Charlotte, which is rare. I also find it encouraging that you're a lesbian." Gail said with a smirk as Holly raised an eyebrow at her.

"Really?" The doctor asked, almost stunned.

"Yeah. I'll see you around, Dr. Stewart." Gail said with a wink as she took off back to the station.

* * *

"You guys are so not helpful." Holly said with a sigh as she looked to two of her best friends who just shrugged.

"You don't really need our help or advice, Hol. It already seems like you've made up your mind." Her one friend explained as Holly sat at her kitchen table, drinking some wine as she Skyped with her two best friends, who now lived a few hours away.

"Yeah, Hol. She sounds awesome. Good with Charlie, pretty, has a steady job, likes chicks, and doesn't mind dead bodies. She sounds like your perfect woman." Holly's other friend said with a smile, knowing that comment would've earned her a swat on the arm if Holly were physically with them.

"Who's your perfect woman?" Charlotte asked as she came out of nowhere and tugged on Holly's sleeve.

"No one, sweetie. I was just talking to Aunties Monica and Laura."

"Were you talking about Gail? Because Gail is awesome." The little girl said honestly as Holly's two best friends chuckled slightly, causing Holly to shake her head.

"I think it's ready for bed time, huh munchkin?" Holly added, signing off with her friends and picking up her daughter and squeezing her tightly, walking her upstairs.

"Can we hang out with Gail again, mommy?"

"Maybe, baby. I saw her at work today, actually."

"That's awesome! I think she would be fun to hang out with." The little girl said sleepily.

"I think so too, honey." Holly answered softly before she leaned down to leave a soft kiss on Charlotte's forehead.

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! What did you think? Should I continue?**


	2. Chapter 2

**You are all so amazing! Thank you for all the reviews and for reading the first chapter! I hope I can keep up with a story you like! Let me know! Thanks again!**

* * *

A few days later, Gail had been thinking about Holly nonstop, but hadn't seen her at all. So she decided to offer to pick up Leo at school again for Traci, earning herself a grin from the detective.

"Gail!" The blonde heard from behind her, smiling as she saw Charlotte skipping up to her happily.

"Hey, cutie. How are you? Meet anyone like Rosie yet?" The blonde asked as she immediately sat down on the ground, smiling as Charlotte copied her actions.

"There are a few girls I've started hanging out with, but I don't know if they're like Rosie or not yet." The little girl shrugged softly.

"I'm sure you'll find someone soon." The blonde assured her. "Are you liking Toronto though so far?"

"Yeah, it's nice! It's a lot different than home, but it's nice."

Gail was about to respond when she saw some boys picking on someone out of the corner of her eye.

"I'll be right back, Charlie. You stay here." Gail said quickly as she stood up and started walking towards a group of boys.

"Okay, Gail." The little brunette added as she looked where Gail was headed.

"Hey, what do you guys think you're doing?" Gail asked sharply as she approached the group of boys.

All of them stopped quickly and stood there, looking at Gail, who was in her police uniform.

"Give me his hearing aid, now." The blonde said as she held her hand out to one of the boys who was holding it above the smaller boy's head.

"Sorry." One of the boys muttered as he handed it back to Gail.

They were about to leave when Gail started talking to them again.

"Boys, let me ask you a question. How would you like it if you were in his shoes? Would you want your hearing aid ripped away from your ear? Or if you were blind, would you want your cane stolen? Or your wheelchair messed with? If someone has a disability, you should help them instead of make things harder for them. Do I make myself clear?" The blonde asked firmly as all the little boys gulped and nodded.

"Apologize to him, leave, and I never want to see you do this again. Got it?" She added as they all quickly apologized to the boy who was still crying and then left.

The blonde took a deep breath and then kneeled down in front of a little blonde boy, who was looking at the ground.

She touched his shoulder lightly and he looked up with tears in his eyes.

"Hi, buddy." She said as she handed him back his hearing aid, causing him to give her a watery smile. "Are you okay?" She asked him as he just looked at her and shrugged.

_Do you sign? _The blonde signed as the little boy blinked the tears out of his eyes.

_**Yes. **_

_Awesome. My name is Gail, what's yours?_

_**Andrew. **_

_Alright, are you okay, Andrew? Those boys were pretty mean, huh? _

_**Yeah, they always are though. I'm fine. **_

_I hope they will leave you alone from now on, Andrew. You shouldn't have to deal with people being mean to you. They didn't break your hearing aid, did they? _

_**No, it looks fine. They don't really do that much for me though, I can hear some sounds, but not voices. **_

_Well that's a shame that you can't hear my wonderful voice. _The blonde signed, causing the little boy to break a smile and laugh slightly.

_**I bet your voice is just like everyone else's**__. _

_Yeah, right. My voice is incredible, especially my singing voice. People actually leave the room because they're too jealous of it. _The blonde added seriously as the boy bent over laughing, causing the blonde to smile.

_**I don't think that's a sign that your voice is nice to listen to. Maybe it's a good thing I can't hear it.**_Andrew signed with a smile as Gail shook her head and looked offended.

"Excuse me, Officer? Is there a problem here?" A woman asked gently as she stood next to the young boy, who smiled at her.

"Oh, no ma'am. I'm Gail Peck." The blonde said, finally standing up and extending her hand.

"I'm Melissa Davies, Andrew's mom." She said kindly as she returned the handshake.

"I was just waiting to pick up my nephew and saw some boys picking on your son. I got them to stop and then we just got to talking." The blonde explained as Melissa looked down at Andrew with a sad smile.

"Yeah, he's mentioned them a few times, but I just don't know what to do about it." She said as Gail nodded gently.

"You can always talk to a school official if it keeps happening. I'm hoping it won't though. He seems like a great boy." Gail said honestly.

"He is." Melissa said with a smile and a grateful nod.

_Tell you what, bud, if those kids give you a hard time, you can have your mom call me personally, alright? _

_**Really?**_He asked with a smile as Melissa smiled at the fact that Gail was signing with him.

_Of course. Can you hold onto my card for me? _

_**Yeah. Thank you. **_

_You're welcome. And if you ever see me around campus, feel free to come say hi, okay? _

_**Okay, Gail. **_

"Thank you so much, Officer."

"It's not a problem." Gail said as she handed both Andrew and his mom her card.

They both thanked her again before they walked away.

* * *

Gail turned back around to make sure that Charlotte was still alright and found Holly standing there with the biggest, most breathtaking smile on her face.

The blonde blushed slightly as she made her way over to Holly and Charlotte.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Stewart." Gail said with a grin as Holly nodded at her, still smiling brightly.

"Officer Peck. That was an incredibly sweet thing you did, there." Holly nodded as Gail smiled shyly.

"Just part of the job, Dr. Stewart." Gail said slowly with a shrug.

"Uh huh, sure, Officer." The brunette said with a grin, knowing that not every cop would've done what she did.

Gail was about to say something when she saw Leo running towards her happily.

"Aunt Gail! You're here!"

"Hey, bud! You ready to go? I'm off in an hour so we can do something fun while we wait for your mom to be done, okay?"

"Yeah, that sounds awesome! Can we go to the zoo?" He asked happily as Gail looked slightly amused.

"You know what, bud? You should invite Dr. Stewart and Charlotte with us, I'm sure they both love wild animals." Gail whispered in Leo's ear as Holly quirked an eyebrow.

"Alright!" The young boy exclaimed before he turned to Holly, "You two should come with us!"

Holly smiled happily once she realized what Gail had whispered into her nephew's ear.

"Charlie, what do you think?" The brunette asked her daughter who just shrugged and then nodded happily. "That sounds great. I'll do about an hour of paperwork and then we can all go once you're off shift?"

"Sounds great! Want us to meet you at the lab?" Gail asked with a smile.

"Sure, sounds perfect. See you guys in a bit." The brunette offered as Gail nodded happily, grabbing Leo's shoulder and leading him away to her car.

* * *

**Thanks again for all the interest! What did you think of this chapter? Anything in particular that you'd like to see happen?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Gwen1989 and Polisha brought it to my attention that **_**parts**_** of the zoo trip mirrored something from "August and Everything After" by reckless-deception and that was not my intention at all. While I think that fic and author are absolutely incredible, I read it months ago, and I don't recall the zoo scene from it, so it was just a coincidence about my zoo scene. Also, reckless-deception is a much more skilled writer and storyteller than I am, so I'm sure my scene was incredibly short and not well described as compared to reckless-deception's incredible handiwork. **

**However, I changed parts of the chapter regardless because I don't want anyone to think that I would steal people's work. With so many stories out there, there are only so many times you can write so many scenes before coincidences happen and **_**a chapter**_** might have an undertone of a different story. To be clear, I would **_**NEVER**_** purposefully steal someone's work because I know how much effort and love all of these writers put into their stories and I would hate it if someone stole my work. **

**I read many different stories, but I'm not at all perfect and there is no way that I can remember every scene from every story I've read, so I'm really sorry that this happened, **_**but this was simply a coincidence **_**and hopefully nothing like that will happen again, but if it does, please let me know! **

**I hope that cleared things up for everyone. **

**Thanks again and you are all fabulous!**

* * *

An hour and fifteen minutes later, Gail and Leo were walking up and knocking on Holly's office door.

"Come in!" The brunette shouted from behind the closed door.

Gail opened it slowly with a smile. "Hi, ladies." The blonde said, smiling happily when she watched Holly slowly look her up and down, visibly blushing when she knew that Gail noticed her staring.

The blonde was wearing tight black pants with her combat boots and was wearing her black and white sweater, with her long hair pulled back into a ponytail.

Holly gulped heavily as she saw how gorgeous Gail was. Yes, she was incredibly attractive in her uniform, but this was something completely different and Holly loved it.

"Hi guys, are you ready to go?" Holly asked, clearing her throat and standing up quickly as Leo smiled and Charlotte jumped up excitedly.

"Definitely." Gail said as the kids ran ahead of them in the hallway. "Want me to drive?"

"How about I drive? Just because Charlie has a car seat still."

"Oh, totally. That's fine with us."

"I'm really glad that we could do this, Gail." The brunette said quietly as they both stared ahead with smiles on their faces.

"Me too, Lunchbox."

"Have any more run-ins with medical professionals lately?" Holly asked with a smile.

"Ha. Ha." The blonde said slowly, a smile growing on her face. "As a matter of fact, no, no I have not."

"Well that's good."

"It's your fault, nerd. Now I know what that lunchbox means though." Gail said with a grin.

"So how's that cat in the tree situation working out?" Holly asked, grinning, as Gail looked annoyed.

"You're not going to forget about that, are you?" She asked as Holly shook her head with a smile, "Good, I guess. All 4 paws planted on the ground." The blonde said as Holly looked at her with a smile.

"Good." The brunette said before she turned her attention towards Charlotte, who had just made it to the car.

Gail looked at Holly's new looking Audi sedan and was thoroughly impressed, even though she knew that Holly was a doctor, she didn't know just how well it paid until now.

After the four of them had hopped in the car, they all took off for the zoo, the kids buzzing happily in the backseat.

* * *

"Gail, what are your favorite animals at the zoo?" Charlotte asked as she tugged on the blonde's hand once they got inside the zoo gates.

"I don't know. I think I really like the polar bears. What about you?" The blonde asked with a smile.

"I love the penguins! They're so cute!"

"They really are! And I know that Mr. Leo loves the Lions, right?" Gail asked as Leo nodded happily. "What about you, Dr. Stewart?" The blonde asked with a small smile as they all turned to the brunette.

"Elephants, definitely." Holly answered easily, causing Gail to smile brightly.

"How about we stop off at the Lions and land animals first and finish with the polar bears and penguins?" The blonde suggested before she leaned in and whispered into Charlotte's ear, "Save the best for last, right?"

"Yes! Let's go!" The little girl said excitedly as she tugged Gail forward.

A minute later, the kids spotted a giant map of the zoo and were given the okay to run ahead to it from both Holly and Gail.

* * *

"So, polar bears, huh?" Holly asked with a grin as they slowly made their way to the kids.

"Yeah, we share the hair color. They're also icy and cold. I'm told I have a lot in common with them." The blonde said with her trademark straight face.

"Shut up. You do not." Holly said with a laugh as she bumped Gail's shoulder, causing the blonde to smile, Holly not believing what the blonde was saying.

"What about you? Elephants?" Gail countered with a smirk, wanting to learn more about Holly.

"They're beautiful creatures, and so smart. I've always wanted one for a pet. Ever since I saw Dumbo and saw how adorable he was."

"Maybe if you're lucky, we can sneak one out." The blonde said with a wink as she ran up ahead to where the kids were, helping them to read the map.

The brunette stuck behind a few feet to watch, loving that Gail was so good with them. She had seen her interact with colleagues and could see where the icy exterior was, but she knew that it wasn't true to Gail's true nature; it was just a front that she'd put up.

The brunette was just about to go and meet up with them when she felt her phone vibrating.

"Hey Monica, how are you?" Holly said excitedly as she answered the call.

"Hey, Hol. We still on to Skype tonight? I'm having smarty-pants withdrawals and I want to hear all about how Charlie is liking her new school."

"Definitely, I look forward to it." The brunette said loudly as a crowd of kids ran by her.

"Where are you, Stewart?" Her friend asked with a laugh.

"At the zoo." The brunette answered shortly as her friend hummed happily.

"Uh huh…who with?" Monica asked with a teasing tone to her voice.

"Charlie, obviously. And Gail and her nephew." She concluded with a smirk as she looked at the three in front of her, still mapping out what animals they wanted to visit.

"I see…so you're in for a fun day then, aren't you?"

"I am, so I'm going to hang up now. I'll talk to you tonight?" Holly asked again with a smirk.

"Definitely. Text when you're ready." Monica said before they muttered quick 'byes' and hung up, leaving the brunette to traipse back to the three excited people by the zoo map.

* * *

The four of them were just leaving the giraffe enclosure when Gail stopped, quickly looking around.

"Shit. Holly, hide me." The blonde whispered frantically as Holly looked at her concernedly.

"What?" The brunette asked, not sure if she'd heard the blonde correctly.

"Hide me! Holly-" Gail whispered more frantically, stopping when she heard someone call her name.

"Gail?"

"Damn it." The blonde breathed out as Holly looked perplexed.

"I thought that was you! What are you doing here?"

"Weston, hi." She said slowly as she shot Holly a pained expression, frowning as the brunette stifled a laugh.

5 incredibly painful minutes later, Gail finally assured him that she would not be going out with him ever again and started to walk away with Holly and the kids.

"Care to explain?" The brunette asked as they got far enough away from him, the kids not paying attention to them.

"He spent a year in Nottingham." The blonde said with a frown still etched in her face.

"Oh, with a band of merry men?" The brunette asked with a smirk as Gail's jaw dropped slightly, not expecting Holly to have said the same thing she had originally said.

"Exactly. But can we get back to the part where I said that he only spent a year in England?"

"Seriously? What's he doing with that phony accent then?"

"Hell if I know. And that is why I left that date early."

"You went on a date with him?"

"Blame my mother, she set it up. And yes, she sets me up with people and they all suck. The only reason I go is because if I don't, I'll never hear the end of it."

"Sounds marvelous."

"Yeah, well you don't know Elaine Peck."

"Wait, the Superintendent?" Holly asked suddenly.

"Yes…"

"You know, I actually met her the other day."

"Are you serious?" The blonde asked, completely mortified.

"Don't make that face. She was just welcoming me to the division when I was dropping something off in my boss' office. She was nice and professional."

"Oh, that sounds like her, alright." Gail added with a grimace.

"So does she always set you up with phony guys?"

"Most of the time. But if she finds an accomplished woman, she'll set me up with her. That's only happened like twice though. And they both turned out to be kinda crazy."

"Really?"

"Yeah, my mom has horrible taste apparently."

* * *

"You guys, she knows sign language. And she went to help this little boy that was getting picked on and then stayed to sign with him. She got him to laugh because he was crying. It was a beautiful thing to see." Holly gushed to her friends via Skype later that night.

"Holly, just go for it! She sounds great, you may as well try it out."

"I just don't want to make things weird if it doesn't work out though."

"It's not like you're in the same job though. I mean, you occasionally see her, but you don't have to every day, you know? I think that the pros will outweigh the cons here."

"What about Charlotte though? There's a big difference between Gail seeing her after school and seeing her all the time."

"Holly, stop stressing about it. Just go with the flow for once. Make a deal with Gail or something about only acting like friends in front of Charlie. Or maybe she doesn't get to see Charlie out of school until it's serious? You'll regret it if you don't go for it, Hol."

"Ditto, Hol. This could be great for the both of you." Her friends both agreed as Holly looked at them skeptically.

"We did go to the zoo today." The brunette gushed again.

"Oh, do tell." Her friends requested with happy smiles.

"It was me and Charlie, with Gail and her nephew, Leo. It was so great. We saw all of the animals and the kids had an incredible time."

"Did Holly also have an incredible time?"

"Holly did. And Holly also really likes this blonde cop." The brunette spoke of herself in the third person as her friends grinned wildly.

"Go for it Holls, or you're going to regret it."

"I second that." Her friend Laura said as Holly just shook her head in her hands.

"Alright, I'll talk to her about it. Maybe ask her out." The brunette finally said with a hopeful smile.

* * *

**Thanks for reading/reviewing! I hope you enjoyed it…and it may/may not be as easy for them to start a relationship as it may seem at the moment…**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks so much to everyone who read/reviewed! I hope you continue to like the story!**

**I OWN NOTHING. Not even my own sanity anymore. **

**Hazy: I only used info about Weston and his wonderful personality that we learned/saw from the episode where Gail was set up on a blind date with him**

**jjuma: I hope this slightly longer chapter pleases you :) **

* * *

"Trace, I'll see you at Fight Night, right?" Gail asked her friend as the detective walked into the locker room at the end of their shift.

"Definitely. I'm just going to go say hi to Leo, grab some dinner, and Steve and I will be there." She informed the blonde who nodded in acknowledgment.

"Tell Leo I say hi." The blonde said with a smile, something that always appeared on her face when she thought of her young nephew.

"Will do. You know, he won't stop talking about what a good time he had at the zoo with you the other day. Thank you for being so good with him, Gail." The detective said sincerely, making sure she held eye contact with Gail the whole time to try and convey her true thanks.

"Of course, Traci. He's a great kid. And he too, thinks Star Wars is super cool." The blonde said with a grin as Traci laughed, remembering their conversation about Star Wars from long ago.

"He also said that Dr. Holly was very nice and knew a lot of fun facts about the animals." Traci said, trying to encourage Gail to spill some more information about Holly Stewart.

"Yeah, she's pretty great."

"I can see that. I met her earlier today in fact, and you're right, she's very pretty." Traci said as Gail just looked at her with an unimpressed face, telling Traci that it was an obvious statement.

"Do you have a case with her now?" Gail inquired, wanting to know if Holly had said anything to Traci about Leo, or herself.

"I do. She's incredibly smart and seems to be really good at her job."

"She is." The blonde said firmly, having picked up on that from her day spent in the morgue, as well as that article of Holly's that she read, and understood none of.

"Well, I say go for it." Traci encouraged before she grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder, making sure her gun was successfully locked in her locker. "See you in a few."

* * *

"Dr. Stewart, I'm glad you could come!" Traci said sweetly as she saw Holly walk in to the abandoned warehouse.

"Holly, please. And thank you for inviting me." The brunette said with a genuine smile, really glad that the detective had invited her, that way she could at least get to know some of the faces of 15.

"Oh, crap. I didn't even think to ask you earlier if you wanted to drop your daughter off with my mom, she's watching Leo right now."

"That's completely fine, thank you though. One of the neighborhood girls is watching Charlotte right now." Holly explained as Traci nodded with a grin.

"Well let me know if that doesn't work and we can figure something out." Traci offered helpfully as Holly continued to smile at the genuinely sweet person in front of her.

"That's very kind, thank you."

"Hey, it takes a village, believe me, I know."

"Well that village did a good job." Holly joked as Traci laughed happily. "Leo's a great kid. He's really good with Charlotte, and I appreciate that."

"How's she taking the move?"

"Little kids are resilient, so she's bouncing back nicely, but I still feel bad taking her away from my family and her friends."

"She'll make new ones soon though, I'm sure. Gail said she's really sweet and very smart."

"She's a good girl. Where is Gail, anyways?" Holly inquired, happy to have the option to ask about her instead of having to bring her up out of nowhere.

"She should be here any minute. She tends to run on Gail time. She and some of the guys probably stopped off for alcohol before they come to the place with more alcohol." Traci said with a fond smile.

"You seem to know her well."

"Yeah, we went to the academy together. She can be pretty rough around the edges, but once you break through that barrier, she's so loyal and hilarious." Traci informed the brunette, not sure of how Gail behaved around the doctor and if Holly was getting slightly discouraged or not.

"I'm starting to see that." Holly added with a smile as Traci nodded happily.

"Why don't you come with me? We can introduce you around a bit." Traci suggested as Holly nodded and followed after the detective.

* * *

Holly was in the middle of meeting Luke Callahan when she saw Gail walking and laughing with Oliver, causing the brunette to smile before she tried to hide it and go back to paying attention to Luke.

A minute or two later, she looked back towards the blonde and was somewhat disappointed to see her talking to a girl, before she handed her the drink that Oliver had given her and smiled happily at her before turning around and walking over to two guys and a girl, greeting them with a joke or funny statement apparently as everyone seemed to laugh.

Holly smiled against her will, liking that Gail could make people laugh, but it was quickly wiped off her face when she saw this other girl hug Gail tightly, the blonde looking somewhat alarmed before she hugged her back gently. She then whispered something into the girl's ear, earning her a shove to the shoulder. Gail then stepped back slightly before leaning her head to the girl's neck and seemingly kiss it.

"And apparently she's a player. I should have known." Holly mumbled as quietly as she could before plastering on a fake smile and listening to Traci again, occasionally glancing back to the blonde, this time with a glare on her face.

45 minutes later, Traci had introduced Holly to a few new people and had pointed out several people to her. She and Traci were just parting ways, the detective going off to say hi to Steve as Holly was about to go get a drink.

"Holly! I didn't know you'd be here. What do you think of it so far?" The blonde said excitedly, seemingly coming out of nowhere. Holly took a deep breath before she turned around and words just started tumbling out of her mouth.

"You know, Gail, I really don't have time for this player action."

"What are you talking about?" Her smile disappears as she looks at the brunette in front of her, the blonde's face forming into something equal to that of a sad puppy.

"I'm talking about the girl you gave your drink to, and then the girl who hugged you and then you like kissed her neck or something. I'm over being a serial-dater. That was college, this is real life and I have a child to think about now."

"Holly, that's not-" Gail started off slowly before she was shut down by Holly completely.

"You know what? Save it. I have to go relieve the babysitter. See you around, Officer." The brunette decided quickly, walking past the blonde before she could say anything else.

"What the hell just happened?" Gail asked herself quietly, looking around to see if anyone else had heard or seen what just happened.

* * *

"I don't know, just figure it out yourself." Is what Traci heard Gail say angrily as she walked into the locker room the next morning.

"Woah, who pissed in your cheerios?" The detective asked as she immediately stood up and faced the blonde who seemed to have a scowl permanently etched into her face.

"What did you just say?" Gail barked out icily as Traci continued to hold her ground, ignoring the pitying looks from other women in the locker room.

"What's got you so pissy, Gail?" Traci tried again in a softer, quieter tone.

"Holly."

"She was fine and looking for you last night, what could have possibly happened between then and now?"

"She somehow got it in her head that I'm a player. She saw me give a drink to Luck and hug Chloe and now she thinks that I'm into every girl." The blonde explained angrily as Traci's brow furrowed.

"But you hate both of them." The detective said easily as the blonde nodded enthusiastically.

"I know! But Dr. Stewart wouldn't stick around long enough for me to tell her that. And that pisses me off." Gail said, saying Holly's name in a very uptight way.

"Just give her a few days, Gail. Maybe she'll come around."

"Yeah, hopefully. Hey, can I drop Leo off at school tomorrow?" The blonde asked, her blue eyes suddenly sparkling with multiple ideas of how to confront the brunette.

"Sure, but if you badger the shit out of her, I'm pleading the fifth. Don't force her into anything Gail." The blonde's friend warned her as Gail just stared at Traci.

"Of course not; don't be a bitch. I'm simply going to ask her to hear me out, that's all."

"Fine, well good luck with that."

"I don't need luck, I'm a very charming person." Gail said happily as Traci just snorted loudly, causing the blonde to look at her friend angrily. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. Anyways, I'm on a stakeout tonight, so I won't be getting sleep. I'll pick him up tomorrow morning at 7:30?"

"Yeah, perfect. See you then." Traci said as she started to head out of the locker room before turning around one last time, "And Gail? You don't have anything to worry about, just explain things normally."

* * *

"Hey Gail, how was your night?"

"I sat in a car with Dov for 12 hours…how do you think it went? He brought his trivia cards, Traci. Trivia. For like 10 hours. I couldn't get him to shut up." The blonde explained exasperatedly before running her hand through her hair in annoyance.

"Do you have to do another stake out tonight?" The detective asked with a smirk.

"Yes, but I threatened to kill Shaw if he even thought about putting me with Dov. Wanna know what he did with that? Saddled me with Chloe for the night." Gail said as she huffed, ready to start ranting again when Leo came running to the front door.

"Gail!"

"Hey, bud! You ready for school?"

"Who is ever ready for school?" He asked with a shrug.

"Students." She said simply as she started to push the boy towards Chris's car, since she borrowed it for the morning, not having her squad car this time.

15 minutes later, they were pulling up to Leo's school and Gail saw Holly leaning in to hug her daughter. The blonde smiled in success, part 1 of her plan having just been completed.

The blonde then hurried to get out, confusing Leo slightly before they said their byes and she walked over to Holly's car, leaning against the hood casually.

About a minute later, Holly turned around and saw Gail leaning on her car, she sighed inwardly before walking over to the blonde, dragging her feet the whole way.

"Now, now, Dr. Stewart…don't look at me like that. You're the one who didn't stick around last night to listen to what I had to say." Gail said with a good-natured grin as Holly just rolled her eyes.

"What do you want, Gail? I need to get to work." Holly said, hoping to get the blonde off of her car within the next few minutes.

"Don't do that. You don't know me. You think you saw something and that, coupled with the fact that you don't actually know how loyal I am to people, means that you came up with this stupid idea that I would actually show interest in dating someone if I was already dating someone else. Or two people, apparently. So thanks for trusting me enough to stick around and explain what you saw." The blonde explained, causing Holly to frown slightly.

"You're right, Gail, I'm sorry. You've been nothing but nice and I should have let you talk."

"You know a lot of people underestimate me, but I didn't think you'd be one of them." Gail said honestly as Holly immediately looked down to her feet.

"Gail, I really am sorry, okay? I guess I'm just a little nervous about letting someone into my daughter's life again. You know, I didn't just decide to have her on my own. I was with another woman for 5 years and we decided to have a baby. And when Charlie was 3 months old, she walked out, she said it was too much and she just left. I'm lucky that it was before Charlie could remember, but now she can, and I can't take that lightly."

"And I don't expect you to, Holly. It's a big deal. But you can't just lump me in with that bitch who walked out on you."

"You're right, that's not fair of me. So please, explain." The brunette said, starting to lighten up slightly once she saw Gail take a deep breath.

"That girl I gave the drink to? That was Officer Luck, she's a bitch. Want to know what she calls me? The chicken police. Get it? Peck? A chicken. Hysterical, right? Yeah, I can't stand her. And you must've been too far away to see that it was my fake smile. Also, I spit that crappy wine back into that cup and basically gave her my spit. So…yeah." The blonde said in as few breaths as possible as Holly just looked on in amazement, smiling at the honesty that the blonde just exuded.

"Well I'm sorry I doubted you." The brunette said sincerely as she took a step closer to the blonde.

"You should be, I'm pretty incredible." The blonde said seriously as Holly chuckled and rolled her eyes fondly.

"And modest, too."

"Well yeah, Peck family trait. You've met my mother." The blonde with a straight face, causing Holly to start laughing hysterically. "Is something funny to you, Stewart?" Gail asked jokingly, just wishing that the brunette would continue laughing.

"That I have, and let me tell you…she is quite the modest lady." Holly said with a smirk as Gail nodded.

"Also, that girl you thought I was kissing was Chloe, my roommate Dov's girlfriend. She sounds like a Disney princess, is far too perky and annoying, and is dating one of my best friends. Plus, she just got shot in the neck and almost died, so she ambush hugged me and after I was checking out her awesome scar, not kissing her."

"So things really can be cleared up that easily, huh?"

"Yup. Plus, I don't have the time, energy, or patience to try and juggle two relationships." The blonde said offhandedly, causing Holly to smile brightly at her continued and refreshing honesty.

"Nice to know. I really am sorry, Gail. So, can I please take you out to dinner? We can start over?" Holly asked hopefully, almost certain that she knew what the answer was going to be.

"Nope, I'll pass. Thanks though, I'm flattered." Gail said seriously as she started to move to get off Holly's car.

"Gail." The brunette said, not believing what just happened.

"Oh, fine, no need to beg." The blonde added as Holly smiled brightly, causing the blonde to smile back at her just as happily.

"You are something else, you know that, right?"

"A goddess? Yeah, I'm aware." The blonde stated as if it was nothing.

"Care to revise your answer for me?"

"Sure, I'd love to go out with you, but it's going to have to wait a few days. We have a stakeout for the next few days probably. And I now get to spend all night in a car with the Disney Princess. Who knows if there is even going to be anyone for you to have dinner with once I'm done with the stakeout. I might be in prison for the murder of a fellow officer. She just is incapable of not talking." Gail said with a shrug as Holly smiled along with her.

"Ear plugs?"

"Oh, you are a genius. I technically don't have to be listening to everything if she's awake. I think this whole relationship is going to go really well for me." Gail said as Holly grinned back at her, pushing her glasses up slowly.

"I hope so." She said honestly as she looked at the blonde again.

"Well, I've been up all night, so I'm going to go sleep. And you should be off to work. Don't want you to be late, newbie." The blonde said as she grazed her hand on Holly's arm on her way to the car, leaving Holly standing there with a breathtaking smile, happy with how her morning ended up.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts! **


	5. Chapter 5

**I fail at updating in a timely manner, I'm sorry! With that said: enjoy! I'm not sure if I'm pleased with this chapter, but let me know what you think!**

* * *

The next morning, Holly was rolling up to a crime scene, pleasantly surprised to see Traci standing around the body.

"Hey, Holly. How are you?" The detective asked with a smile once she saw Holly duck under the police tape.

"I'm good, thanks. You?"

"Good, apart from being pulled out of bed an hour earlier than I would've liked."

"I hear you; especially on a Saturday. Charlie and I normally do pancakes and cartoons."

"That's adorable. I miss those days with Leo. You know, we should all do dinner some time, a barbeque or something." The detective suggested with a smile.

"That'd be great, actually." The forensic pathologist said as she pulled on her gloves and knelt down next to the body.

Holly was about to tell Traci something when she was cut off by Traci's ringing phone. She received an apologetic look from the detective, but assured her it was fine.

"No, Gail, I will not bring you over a bottle of Tequila. No bourbon either. I know you love your bourbon. That's not being mean Gail, that's called taking care of you. It is bullshit, Peck." The detective choked out a laugh as Gail's name piqued Holly's interest.

"Why don't you put Chris on the phone? Chris? Okay, whatever you do, do not let her have alcohol, okay? I don't care how much she begs, uses those sad puppy eyes, or tries to blackmail you, do not let her have any. We clear? Well she's already bad enough isn't she? Yeah, if she has alcohol, it'd only get worse. Fine, I'll call you later."

"She have a rough night in the undercover van with Chloe?" Holly asked with a smirk as Traci laughed happily.

"She certainly did. And they all had a rough morning." Traci said as became really serious.

"They all okay?" The brunette asked, standing up to look Traci in the eyes.

"Well they got the guys that they were on the stakeout for, but one of them used Gail as a punching bag. So she spent the past 3 hours in the hospital, and let me tell you…she absolutely hates the hospital."

"What the hell happened?" The brunette squeaked out, sounding completely unprofessional, which caused Traci to be happier, now knowing that Holly cared about Gail for sure.

"They were going to try and go for Chloe, but Gail stepped in front of her and tried to fight them off, but took a beating. She's got some cracked ribs and a few stitches here and there. She'll be a little black and blue, but she'll be fine in a few weeks."

"That's horrible."

"Yeah, so she's on some heavy duty meds now, hence the reason why I told her no alcohol."

"Good call, that would not be good."

"You know, I'm sure she'd love a visit from her favorite pathologist and second favorite child." Traci said with a smirk, obviously referring to Leo as Gail's favorite child.

"I'd love to see her, just take a minute to lay eyes on her and make sure she's okay. I'm sure if I just called she'd do the whole tough guy thing." The brunette guessed as Traci nodded in truth.

"Yeah, she would. Wants to be seen as a badass, that one." The detective said, smirking as they both rolled their eyes.

"Do you mind texting me her address?" Holly asked suddenly, realizing that she had no idea where the blonde lived.

"Yeah, definitely. So, about this dead guy?" Traci continued after sending off Gail's address to Holly.

* * *

Gail was lying in her bed, listening to music quietly as she iced half of her body. The blonde was dozing off when she heard a slight knocking on the door.

"Chris! If you are coming to hover again or ask me if I'm alright one more time, I just might taser you…or strangle you. It'll really depend on my state of mind once you open that damn door." The blonde all but shouted. While she appreciated him caring for her, she was getting tired of his constant presence.

"Wow, that wasn't quite the welcome I was expecting!" Holly said with a grin as she poked her head in and shrugged her shoulders jokingly.

"Holly." The blonde said softly, already looking slightly uncomfortable, gasping as she tried to sit up further. "Where's Charlotte?" The blonde asked once Holly came in and shut the door.

"She's sitting on the couch with Chris, he's telling her about video games."

"Watch out, he likes kids that aren't actually his own." The blonde said as she ran a hand over her face.

"Well I'll be sure to leave with the same kid." The brunette said jokingly as Gail smiled tiredly.

"You do that. So what brings you to my cave of badassery?" The blonde said, eyes closed on her bed as Holly smiled happily.

"I heard about your incident from Traci and wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to. So how do you feel, Gail?"

"Like a very large man tried to play pinball with my insides, but no internal bleeding, so there's that."

"That's good. Hey, this isn't your way of trying to get out of a date with me, is it?" The brunette joked, wanting to lighten the air.

"So funny, nerd. No, I'll still go out with you, I mean, it's free food." The blonde said, causing Holly to laugh happily. "You have a nice laugh, Lunchbox. And you look like you have really soft hair. Have you ever noticed how soft your hair is? It's pretty soft-it's really soft." The blonde rambled on tiredly, eyes closed, missing Holly's smirk and stifling of a giggle.

Holly was about to respond when Chris came into the room, holding his hand over the microphone of his phone.

"Gail, your mom just called me because apparently you're not picking up your phone. So talk to her, alright?" He said, thrusting the phone into her hands before he went back out to the living room with Charlie.

The blonde looked annoyed before she even put the phone up to her ear, causing Holly to look away so she didn't laugh at the blonde's adorable face.

"Hello? Yes, mother, I'm sure if I were dating someone they would nurse me back to health. Oh, I'm fine, by the way, thanks for your concern. No, Chris was helping me out. Yes, my ex-boyfriend/roommate/coworker. I'm very aware of who Chris is. You do know Chris...I'm talking to you on his phone. Sure, it's Craig, not Chris, my mistake. Alright, I'm going to hang up now. What? No. Mother, no. If you even hover near Weston's number in your phone, I will personally sic Weston on you. He's not charming and he's not even British! Alright, we're done, I'm interested in someone anyways, so stop setting me up. No, I'm not lying. I'm not going to tell you who. People can be interested in me, mother. Okay, bye." The blonde finally said as she ended the call and threw the phone to the end of the bed, sighing heavily in annoyance.

"Why didn't you just mention me by name?" Holly asked with a chuckle.

"Believe me, that is the last thing you want. She would start coming in to bother you at work, she would do background checks on you and your whole family…it just wouldn't be pretty. I can hear her now, 'Oh, she's a pathologist with 15, you better not screw that up, Gail…' and then she would say a million more things like that."

"Gotcha. Superintendent Peck did some rather strict when I met her." The brunette said, sitting down gingerly next to Gail on the bed.

"Imagine growing up with her as part of the Peck Empire. Let me tell you, it was not rainbows and happy times ever."

"How do you feel, Gail? Honestly?" Holly asked softly as she swept some of Gail's hair out of her face, caressing the blonde's cheek as Gail's eyes softened considerably.

"Pretty shitty. A rather large man felt the need to punch me in the stomach. I eventually got him with my baton and Chloe got him with her taser, but it was still pretty painful."

"I bet it hurts to breathe, huh? You've got a few cracked ribs, right?" The brunette asked, wanting to confirm with Gail.

"Eh, nothing I haven't dealt with before." The blonde said as stoically as she could have, trying to hide a grimace as she took a deeper breath.

"That's not exactly encouraging. Gail, shouldn't you still be in the hospital?" Holly asked softly, not wanting to upset the blonde with her question, but wanting to know the real answer.

"Technically, but I bothered them enough and they eventually released me." She replied with a pleased smirk, causing the brunette to shake her head.

"You sound like a horrible patient."

"The nurse said that they were releasing me earlier due to my singing being off pitch, she said she didn't want to listen to it anymore. Clearly, Janet has no idea what on pitch sounds like, because I was definitely on pitch. And I am a wonderful patient! But, I suppose any patient that is still breathing is one that you'd consider horrible. Is it alcohol time yet?"

"Oh, touché, Officer. Yes, I much prefer dead patients, but I do not want to see any of the members of 15 on my table, okay? And you're on some heavy duty drugs, so I think that's enough for you for now."

* * *

"So, about this date." Gail started off sloppily as Holly looked at the blonde in anticipation, her eyes widening slightly at the mention of it.

"Yes?"

"I was thinking a nice dinner someplace, is that reasonable with you? Because I can tell you this much, unless it's a video game, I will not be playing sports of any kind. Do we have an agreement?"

"We'll see, Gail. I might be able to twist your arm about softball."

"Why softball? I thought you didn't like balls in your face." The blonde said quickly, smiling to herself as Holly laughed loudly.

"I see that you have even less of a filter at this moment in time."

"Yeah, whatever. Hey, you should probably take off." Gail said as she looked over at her clock and noticed that it was lunchtime.

"Oh, yeah, definitely." The brunette said, slightly taken aback by how quickly Gail had urged her to leave. "I don't want to impinge on your healing process, which is going to stay alcohol free."

"No, it's not that, nerd. Stop looking like I took your favorite scalpel away from you. It's the fact that a certain child has been forced to listen to Chris yammer on for who knows how long and is likely wanting some lunch right about now."

"Oh." Holly said, suddenly feeling stupid that she was so disappointed by Gail telling her to take off. Of course the ever observant blonde, even while under medication, would remember to feed her child, while Charlie's own mother, might have let it slip her mind since she was so nervous about seeing just how badly injured Gail was.

"Yeah, Lunchbox, don't take things I say so personally."

"You know, it's nice to see how sweet you are with her."

"Uh, Holly, please! Your words wound me! Don't kick me while I'm down! Gail Peck? Sweet? That's a slanderous statement. I could sue you." Gail said dramatically as Holly bit the inside of her lip roughly to keep from smiling too brightly.

"How are you this put together when you're on heavy meds?"

"I've had lots of practice, also…it would probably ruin my street cred if I used fancy words, so don't tell anyone." The blonde said in a stage whisper as Holly shook her head happily.

"You are something else, Officer Peck."

"You know what, Holls, I'm in a weird mood, so I'm going to take that as a compliment and not get offended."

"You should, I meant it as one." The doctor replied as she looked down at Gail with a smile. "How about Charlie and I bring you breakfast tomorrow morning? Waffles? French Toast?"

"I feel like you're one of those people that gets up freakishly early, so I'm going to say no earlier than 10am. Waffles are the best thing in the world; anything but eggs. And I would love to see my favorite brunette first thing in the morning." The blonde answered as she looked down at her hospital wristband.

"I'd love to see you tomorrow morning too, Gail." Holly said, completely flattered at what Gail had just said.

"Oh, well this is awkward. I was talking about Charlie." The blonde replied with a serious face as Holly gave her a lop-sided grin and shook her head good-naturedly.

"We will see you tomorrow around 10, Gail. Call me if you need anything." The brunette said, smiling as Gail nodded. The brunette then leaned down and gave the blonde a quick kiss on the cheek before exiting her room to go get Charlie.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts please! **


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